As a welcoming congregation, we strive to be inclusive and to encourage community and spiritual growth and activism for anyone, regardless of race, color, age, ability, religious belief, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.The specific term “Welcoming Congregation” is a UU designation that means that our congregation has made an informed commitment to be a welcoming place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) people, their families, and allies. In 2000, our congregation attained “Welcoming Congregation” status after a five-year process of education and advocacy on gay and lesbian issues, followed by a congregational vote in favor of becoming an official Welcoming Congregation. We also pledged to continue to work to make our congregation a place where LGBTQ members and friends could feel welcomed, feel spiritually nourished, and be an integral part of our community.We are continually educating ourselves as a congregation about issues of concern to the LGBTQ community. Our Social Action Committee and our straight and gay alliance group, Spectrum, minister to our congregation on gay and human rights issues as well as working on education and advocacy in the larger community through activism such as letter-writing campaigns and protest marches.

First Unitarian Society of Westchester25 Old Jackson AvenueHastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706